Burial-vault.



C. A. MASON.

BURIAL VAULT.

APPLICATION rum) MAY 14, 1012.

1,060,849. Patented May 6, 1913.

l l Q l l nwznoa (Mm CHARLES A MA'ON.

UNITED STATES PATENT ormoni.

CHARLES A. Mn-son, QF JUNIATA,'PENNSYLVAN'IA.

BURIAL-VAULT.'

To att 'whom-t may concern:

Be it knownthat I, CHARLES'A. MASON, a citizen of the. United Sta-tes,`residing at Juniata, in the county o f Blairaiidtate of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Vaults,

of which the following .is a specification.

This invention relates to burial vaults, and has for.v its primarypurpose improved means whereby the vault is at all times keptv perfectlyair and water tight, thus providing in a very' practical way a perfectlysani-v tarymeans o'f interi-inc bdies.

Andther object of this invention 4is to provide'improved means of.sealing the vaultA afterthe casket has been placed therein, thusproviding -in a .very practical way an air tight casket receptacle;

A further .object of this invention .is to provide what maybe termed agravity seal,

vwherein the -lid is sealed to the-body ofthe vault by virtue of theforce of gravity' acting upon a column .of fluid cement whichisautomatically forced up into the lid by the placing of the same upon thebody ofthe vault;

- With these and many other objects in view which will be more readilylapparent, as'the nature of the invention is better understood, the sameconsists'of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partsas will be hereinafter fully pointed out, illustrated and claimed. v

The essential features of the invention involved in carrying out4 theabove mentioned objects are quite susceptible toa wide range oflstructural modification, without departing from the spirit or scope ofthe invention, but a preferred and practical embodiment 'thereof isshown in the accompanying drawings, in which A F igure 1 1s a 'sideelevation of my 1mproved burial vault. Fig. 2 1s anend elevation of thevault shown in 'Fig'. 1. '.F ig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line-33.of Fig. 1, and -shows particularly the manner Iin which the joint ismade between the lid' and the body of the vault. 4 is a modification ofthe joint shown in Fig. 3.

Like reference numerals designate corre'- spondingparts'throughout theseveral iig ures of the'drawings In carrying. out'the invention, the`vault,

designated in its entirety by the numeral 10 is preferably made of someapproved form* Specification of Letters Patent.

Y operating members.

of reinforced'conrete, the surfaces and bodyA Patented May 6, 1913.appneatifmmedMay14,1912.` seriainaeeaa'ia. c

thus rendering the body and theflid water and air tight, while the jointbetween *the body 11 and the lid or 'covering 12 is preferablyformedwith a converglng angled recess 13' having a groove 13 formed in the topedge 14' of the body of the vault 11.

The under surface 15`ofthe lid 12 is. provided with a recess 12a havinga converging tongue 16 projecting from the'central portionthereof, whichis adapted to t Ainto and coperate with-the converging angled recess. 13formed in the body. The converging angled projection' 16 on 'the lid isprovided with a groovel, into which the cement sealing solution rises-when the lid 12 is placed on the body 11. Y

`Between the," two coperating members,` there is preferably formed aclearance space 18, into whichthe cement solution is forced when thesealing ofthe lid to the body is accomplished.'

The method of using this improved burial vault may be described asfollows: The cement sealinof solution is laced in the recess 13, afterwhich the vault lstower'ed into posi-l tion by the usualneansopassingstraps through the recess' 19vat either end 2Ov of the vault; thestraps being easily withdrawn after the vaultis in position. The casketis then placed in the vault, and lastly the lid is lowered intoposition, through the medium of the handhelds 21. When the lid islowered into position, the cement sealing solution is forced up lintothe groove 17, and into the clearance spaces between the. two co- It isobvious that the sealing solution will rise in the groovel when the lidisplaced in osition, giving a head or feeder which f aciiitates theperfect sealing of the two members together. y The weight of the cementsealing solution in the riser serves to force the'solution 'into everyfissure between. the two cooperating members; Vthus an eiicient air andwater tight .joint is the natural result. It will be obvious that thisljoint is readily applicable lto anycement construction: wherein itisdesired 'tomaintainany air and watertight union between the t'woabutting or interlockn'surfacesij ithout -'fi'irther ,description orelaboration, it'is believed that the many advantages of the improvedburialyvault will be readily apparent, andA Aes What claim and-desire tobee'secu'ed by Letters Patent is:

A burial vault comprising a body whose upper edges have -a recess formedwith conv v ergingwalls, and a fiafzbottom provided with a groove, a iidmember hving a recess, a converging tongue projecting downwardy from thecentral portion of the recess in the wardiy projecting tongueregistering with the groove in the bottom of the recess formed in thebod; to form apassageWay for a. seal- Y ing agen/t p n i u In testipmonwhereof I ax my signature in vpresence o two witnesses.

, ,CHARLES A. MASON.

Witnesses v 7 ADAM LEA'KE, JAS. G. 'SPANGLER.

